5 Ways to Make a Flat-Screen TV Blend In
Easy design tricks and tips to help you decorate around that 'big black thing'
A Houzz reader recently asked, “How do you decorate the wall around a flat screen TV?” It’s a popular question. For years, a primary task of a designer has been to play ‘Hide the TV’. When the flat-screen television arrived, I remember the relief and joy! Finally — an end to huge furniture pieces attempting to hide the eyesore of the living room. Homeowners had no problem embracing the flat screen, even with the hefty price tag. But as the novelty faded, many found their flat screen as challenging to decorate around as their old tube TV. Whether you have a fireplace to contend with or not, arranging a room around the big black rectangle can be a struggle. Here are 5 ways to pull it off.
Here’s another traditional living room with the TV directly over the fireplace. Again, a bit of black around the firebox balances the floating black rectangle. The dark trim around the windows stabilises the lights and darks in this room as well. Giving the eye something to latch on to and go from object to object really helps. Colour is often a unifying element, but in this case, it’s the dark tones.
TIP: Be careful not to hang your TV too high or you’ll feel like you’re in the front row of a movie theatre. Lower mantles are better when installing a TV over a fireplace.
TIP: Be careful not to hang your TV too high or you’ll feel like you’re in the front row of a movie theatre. Lower mantles are better when installing a TV over a fireplace.
2: Camouflage with a dark colour
Still not loving how much the black shiny rectangle jumps off the wall? Camouflage your TV with a background wall of black, brown, navy, charcoal grey - any dark colour of your choosing. This room takes it all the way with a black stone fireplace and ebony floors. I especially love the recessed niche with what appears to be a moulding detail on the inside.
Still not loving how much the black shiny rectangle jumps off the wall? Camouflage your TV with a background wall of black, brown, navy, charcoal grey - any dark colour of your choosing. This room takes it all the way with a black stone fireplace and ebony floors. I especially love the recessed niche with what appears to be a moulding detail on the inside.
This room camouflages the TV with a background of dark wood veneer. There are also many fabulous wallpapers that would serve the same purpose. This is a great solution if you're more of a minimalist and don't want to clutter your walls with art or books.
3: Draw attention to something else in the room
The stunning mirror over the vintage fireplace steals the show in this living room. The TV is set off to the side, giving it secondary importance.
TIP: There’s no need to put all eyes on the TV when arranging furniture in a room, especially if it’s your living room. Even if the sofa faces the TV, a few occasional side chairs that act as if they’re ignoring it can help take the focus away.
The stunning mirror over the vintage fireplace steals the show in this living room. The TV is set off to the side, giving it secondary importance.
TIP: There’s no need to put all eyes on the TV when arranging furniture in a room, especially if it’s your living room. Even if the sofa faces the TV, a few occasional side chairs that act as if they’re ignoring it can help take the focus away.
The sleek dark stone facing on this fireplace provides equilibrium for the dark TV above. Even though the woodwork in this room is white, the smallest amount of black in the table base and chair base, and the dark graphic pattern of the rug, balance the lights and darks in this room.
The metal pendant and artful display of objects on the console to the right pulls your eye away from the central TV/fireplace.
The metal pendant and artful display of objects on the console to the right pulls your eye away from the central TV/fireplace.
If you have modern space, make the fireplace more of a focal point by tiling it to the ceiling. More black accents show themselves in the trim around the windows. The extended rectangle of dark stone or concrete around the fireplace draws attention to the long rectangles of the room. The TV would have much more prominence if white tile framed the firebox.
4: Fill in the space
Books, accessories and pictures around this TV make the screen practically invisible.
TIP: If you don’t have built-in shelving to fill in with books, just pack your wall with art and photography.
Books, accessories and pictures around this TV make the screen practically invisible.
TIP: If you don’t have built-in shelving to fill in with books, just pack your wall with art and photography.
Creating a gallery wall achieves the same effect as the previous photo. And this solution doesn’t require you to have a book collection or have budget for built-ins.
5: Ground it
My number-one pet peeve is a TV that floats on a wall with nothing under it. I don’t mind if it’s over a fireplace, because that helps to ground it, but a floating TV on its own reminds me of a hospital or bar - not desirable looks for a living room. Even when the TV is mounted to the wall, adding a console or media cabinet helps to fill in the space. Add a few artfully placed objects and the TV doesn’t take over.
My number-one pet peeve is a TV that floats on a wall with nothing under it. I don’t mind if it’s over a fireplace, because that helps to ground it, but a floating TV on its own reminds me of a hospital or bar - not desirable looks for a living room. Even when the TV is mounted to the wall, adding a console or media cabinet helps to fill in the space. Add a few artfully placed objects and the TV doesn’t take over.
A few floating shelves and a cabinet below fill this wall with texture, colour and interest that doesn’t just involve the TV.
Even though this TV is floating pretty high above the console below, the modern unit matches the silver TV frame and pulls the scheme together.
This space shows many of these different ideas in action: the symmetrical shelving filled with art and objects draws the attention away from the TV. The black firebox, black side chairs, and brown shelves and floor bounce your eye around the room. Symmetry rules, and the dark brown floor grounds everything.
TELL US
Have you successfully made your TV look like decor, not an eyesore? We’d love to see it!
TELL US
Have you successfully made your TV look like decor, not an eyesore? We’d love to see it!
Unfortunately, the big shiny black box that is the flat-screen TV can easily dominate a room. In more traditionally-decorated rooms, and when white trim is involved, one solution is to have other black accents and accessories. Here the TV over a dark stone fireplace; along with the darker brown floors, ground the room. These elements and the black accents in the pillows and side table help to bounce your eye around the room and balance the black hole of the TV.
TIP: Even though there’s symmetry with the two yellow chairs and the two urns on the mantle, the asymmetry of tall shelving on the left and the lower cabinet on the right help to fill the room with texture and interest. This diminishes the TV as a focal point.